Around the halls of the high-rise dormitories, the sounds of
laughter and music can be heard from the many rooms with doors
propped open.
But residential plazas such as De Neve and Sunset Village are
often quiet with a few doors open to visitors.
Students and university officials agree that the high-rise dorms
are more social than the residential plazas, and that the
antisocial atmosphere of the plazas is due to the use of private
bathrooms rather than communal ones.
And the opening of the two new high-rise residential plazas
Rieber Vista and Hedrick Summit by next year ““ with some
single-person rooms and no communal bathrooms ““ may mean that
the newest residential plazas will be even less social than the
current ones.
“The single suites were designed specifically for
upper-division students who seek greater privacy,” said Jack
Gibbons, associate director of the Office of Residential Life.
“We designed the rooms to better meet the need of
upper-division students.”
Gibbons acknowledged that the residential halls are more social
but said there will not be an increased effort to do additional
programming in Rieber Vista and Hedrick Summit to help build a
sense of community.
“Programming will remain the same as in all the other
halls. The structured activities will remain the same,”
Gibbons said.
All of the residential buildings have the same programming
requirements of five programs per quarter. Gibbons said that
typically the number of programs exceeds the minimum requirement
and that it is up to the hall governments, program assistants and
their supervisors to determine how many programs they want to
organize.
Associate Director of Housing Angela Marciano said for the
2005-2006 year it is projected that 3,712 students will be living
in the high-rise buildings with communal bathrooms, 2,632 students
will be living in dorms with shared bathrooms and 2,332 students
will be living in buildings with private bathrooms.
Many students agree that there is less interaction between
residents in Sunset and De Neve than in the other dorms.
“You have a bigger chance of running into people in the
communal bathrooms,” said Lucia Chung, a first-year English
student and Courtside resident.
Though the layout of the residential plazas makes them less
social than the residential halls, some students have found ways to
interact with their neighbors.
Chung said she met a lot of her housemates through house
government and that they help organize programs which they attend
together.
Jenny Kim, a first-year undeclared student and Sunset Village
resident, said students in the plazas do not hang out as much as
students in the other dorms do, but said that she is lucky because
the floor she lives on does not fit the stereotype.
While the plazas may be known for having an antisocial
atmosphere, many of the residents have come to embrace the
reputation.
The Delta Terrace T-shirts poke fun at the their social
reputation: “Say hello to me. My shirt is social so I
don’t have to be,” they read.